The 5-year-old Andover girl who was killed in a pedestrian crash this week is being remembered for her “boundless love for everyone” as her family calls on the town to make safety changes at high-traffic intersections.
Sidney Olson died following the tragic incident in Andover on Tuesday evening. She was struck by a tractor trailer truck at the intersection of Elm and Main streets, as the family was walking to art class.
Sidney and one other family member traversed the crosswalk on Elm Street while the walk sign showed it was still safe to cross.
“As long-time residents of the neighborhood, we’ve followed that route hundreds of times before,” the family said in a statement on Thursday.
“The rest was a blur, and Sidney was struck by a truck and killed, leaving an impossible void in our lives,” the family wrote.
Sidney was described by the family as a bright-eyed, energetic girl with springy curls.
She was in the Springboard to Kindergarten program at SHED school in Andover, where she was “known for her soft-spoken curiosity, and her budding ability to deescalate conflict and find common ground in groups.”
“Our greatest hope is that Sidney’s boundless love for everyone encourages others to look out for the common good of our community following this tragedy,” her family wrote.
“This intersection has long been considered dangerous,” they added. “While we’re not engineers, we also know our community can do better. We hope the town makes fast changes to that and other high-traffic intersections so no one has to experience the pain we feel right now.”
Her family also described the girl as fiercely creative, styling her own outfits, choreographing performances, and filling the home with her unique brand of abstract art.
Sidney picked flowers everywhere she went, often plucking a rose from the garden in front of Enterprise Bank. She memorized every lyric to a dozen Taylor Swift songs, taking the microphone to sing along in crowded karaoke sessions.
For her last birthday, she wanted a rainbow theme because “it includes everyone’s favorite color.”
Following the crash on Tuesday, the driver of the truck stopped and was cooperating with police.
Several people who also were in the crosswalk at the time were not struck, but were taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.
The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit were investigating alongside detectives from the Andover Police Department.